


you're the storm

by emmerrr



Series: winter wonderland [3]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Getting Together, M/M, Noah ships it, Snowed In, and there was only one bed!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 04:06:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17134628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: He pulled in at the turning and quickly found the B&B, a quaint looking place with an almost full parking lot. Adam found a space right at the far side, next to a BMW that he recognised all too well.Adam’s stomach lurched at the sight of it for no good reason.





	you're the storm

**Author's Note:**

> last one before christmas! based on the prompt: 'the b&b we’re staying at asked if we wouldn’t mind sharing a room since we know each other and this snow storm has brought in some unexpected guests … one bed … three nights … '

The Gansey Christmas party was an annual thing, hosted at the Gansey family estate and attended by Mrs Gansey’s political ‘friends’. It was a night of champagne and hors d'oeuvres and sycophantic conversation.

It was decidedly not Adam’s favourite event, but one he had been begged to attend by Richard Campbell Gansey the Third every year since befriending him in college. Gansey’s reasoning was that if  _he_ had to attend, then so did all of his friends.

Adam didn’t really see the point; he tended to linger at the sidelines of these parties, never quite knowing what to do with himself. What  _was_  interesting to Adam was that Gansey also insisted on the presence of his other best friend, Ronan Lynch.

Even more surprising was the fact that Ronan even bothered to show up; Adam suspected it was just so he could physically show his distaste at the whole thing. He came from what Mrs Gansey would describe condescendingly as ‘new money’, and although not shy about flaunting his wealth, Ronan did it in a considerably different way. 

Adam only knew Ronan through Gansey, meeting him whenever he came to visit Gansey at college and then whenever there was some Gansey organised get-together or an event such as the Christmas party. He’d never felt that Ronan had particularly warmed to him, especially in the beginning when he had clearly felt like Adam was stepping in on his turf as Gansey’s best friend.

Things had thawed a little bit over the years, but Ronan was still abrasive and rude and overall difficult to get to know. There were the occasional glimmers of something underneath, the odd moment where Adam would make a dry comment and Ronan would laugh approvingly, but overall, Adam just didn’t seem him often enough for there to ever have been any real progress. He  _did_ enjoy listening to Ronan and Blue (Gansey’s girlfriend) talk shit about all the other guests at the Christmas party, however. It was one of the only highlights.

The day after this year’s particular display of pomp and ceremony, Adam left shortly after Ronan did, mid-afternoon just as the snow began to fall. Gansey and Blue had tried to get him to stay and wait out the snow, but Adam had to get back for work and it was a long journey. He figured if he left now he’d make it home before the storm got too bad to travel in.

He had no such luck. By the time he’d been on the road for an hour, the snow was falling so fast and so thick that the old wipers on his shitbox of a car were having trouble keeping up. Visibility was too poor, road conditions were becoming increasingly difficult, and it was too far now to turn around and head back to Gansey’s parent’s house. He’d have to find somewhere to stop for the night.

After driving along for another ten minutes or so, Adam just about managed to make out a sign that told him a B&B was on his next right. Keeping his eyes peeled for the turn, Adam just hoped they were open and had a room available.

He pulled in at the turning and quickly found the B&B, a quaint looking place with an almost full parking lot. Adam found a space right at the far side, next to a BMW that he recognised all too well.

Adam’s stomach lurched at the sight of it for no good reason. Having seen the way Ronan drove, he’d have thought Ronan would have made it further before having to stop, but he didn’t understand why he felt strange at the idea of Ronan being here. Possibly it was because he and Ronan had never really spent any time one-on-one, without Gansey or Blue or Henry there as a buffer. It didn’t matter anyway; he doubted he’d even see much of Ronan while he was here. Grabbing his duffel bag out of the back seat, Adam locked his car and struggled through the snow towards the entrance.

The man sitting behind the welcome desk looked stressed when Adam walked in, spewing apologies before Adam had even reached him to ask for a room.

“I’m so sorry, we’re completely full,” he said, stricken.

“Really? You’ve got nothing at all?”

The man seemed at a loss. “Absolutely nothing. I gave away our last room about half an hour ago. I wish I could do something, but literally all of the beds are taken.”

Adam sighed. “Okay. Where’s the nearest motel or somewhere else I could stay?”

“Not for miles. I wouldn’t really want to send you back out in this.” He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. He really seemed like he wanted to help, but just didn’t see how.

“Parrish?”

Adam turned at his name to see Ronan Lynch standing on the stairs. 

He’d seen the car outside so he’d known Ronan was here, and that inevitably he’d run into him at some point, but there was still something about Ronan that made Adam feel  _seen._

“Lynch,” he replied, and then turned back to the man behind reception. “Do you have the number for the nearest place so I can at least call to see if they have any rooms?”

Adam heard Ronan come the rest of the way down the stairs and then stop at the desk beside him, but he refused to look despite being incredibly aware of him. The man at reception, whose name-badge read Noah Czerny, was looking between them, his face brightening.

“Do you two know each other?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ronan said at the same time as Adam said, “Not really.”

Ronan snorted and Noah raised his eyebrow at the discrepancy but ultimately deemed it unimportant. “Mr Lynch here just booked our last room. But if you’re friends, perhaps you won’t mind sharing…?”

Adam did now glance at Ronan. He wouldn’t actually mind having to share all that much; his alternative was driving around in the snow looking for somewhere else which didn’t seem like an inviting task. He didn’t want to impose on Ronan though, and Ronan had gotten here first. Fair was fair.

“That’s okay,” he said. “I’ll find somewhere else. Thank you, though.”

He’d only taken one step towards the door when Ronan’s hand closed around his wrist. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Parrish, I’m not sending you back out in that.”

He let go just as quickly and when Adam turned back around to face him, Ronan’s attention was no longer on him.

“Sort him out with a key,” Ronan said to Noah, then went back up the stairs, leaving Adam in baffled silence in his wake, staring after him.

“Well,” Noah said, relieved and cheerful. “That worked out nicely, didn’t it?” He jangled a key at Adam. “Here you go. Room number 4.”

Automatically, Adam took the offered key. He looked out of the window at the still steadily falling snow. It was either heading back out into that, or spending the night in an enclosed space with Ronan.

Sighing with resignation at his fate, Adam thanked Noah, then climbed the stairs to find the room.

* * *

 

There was a glaring problem when Adam opened the door and stepped inside.

“There’s only one bed.”

“Well spotted, Parrish.” Ronan was busy moving his stuff into one half of the room. How he’d managed to make such a mess considering he’d arrived not that long ago, Adam had no idea.

When he’d finished and looked back over to where Adam still hadn’t moved, Ronan sighed expansively. “It’s fine, I’ll sleep on the fucking floor.”

Adam frowned and stepped further into the room. “That’s not what I meant. We can share, it’s just…I dunno, I was expecting a twin room. It threw me.”

Ronan shrugged. “It was the last room they had.”

Adam carefully put his duffel in the chair in the corner then checked the time. It was almost 5pm, the darkness settling in outside. It was a good job neither he nor Ronan were still on the road in the snow and cold. It was considerably warmer in here.

Ronan stretched out on the left side of the bed and turned the TV on. Feeling somewhat awkward, Adam sat on the edge on the other side. The room really wasn’t very big at all. There was nowhere to hide unless Adam wanted to stay in the bathroom the entire time.

After a few minutes, Adam became aware of something nudging him in the ribs, and he whirled around. It was Ronan’s foot and Adam glared. “What?”

“I said your name like five times, man, you were totally zoned out.”

“Right.” Adam rubbed his face. “Sorry. I’m tired, I guess. What’s up?”

“Did you call Gansey?”

Adam shook his head. “No. I should, he’ll want to know where I am.” He took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Gansey’s number. 

It only rang once before Gansey answered.  _“Adam! Where are you, have you stopped? The snow’s so bad!”_

“Yeah, I’ve stopped. You were right, I should have stayed,” Adam admitted. “I’m at a B&B though, so safe and sound.”

“Hey,” Ronan said. “Tell him I’m safe and sound, too.”

Adam covered the receiver. “Why don’t  _you_  tell him?”

“You’re already talking to him, this saves me a phone-call.”

_“Who’s that?”_ Gansey asked.

“Oh, it’s just Ronan,” Adam said. “He’s here too, he told me to tell you.”

_“You’re at the same B &B?”_ 

They were in the same  _room,_ but Adam didn’t feel the need to divulge that information.

“Yeah. We’re both safe, don’t worry.”

_“Well what a fortuitous coincidence,”_ Gansey said.  _“Okay, Adam, let me know when you leave again and when you get home. Ronan too, tell him!”_

“Will do, Gansey. Bye.” Adam hung up and sat back further so that he was stretched out like Ronan but on his own side of the bed. He put his phone on the bedside table. “Gansey wants you to let him know when you leave and when you get home.“

Ronan sighed. “He’s such a dad.”

Adam shrugged; it was nice that Gansey cared to check up on them.

They lapsed into silence, watching the TV half-heartedly. Adam’s eyes grew heavy and the warmth of the room mixed with the quiet noise from the TV lulled him into an unplanned nap. When he woke up again, the room was dark and the TV was off, and he was alone.

Disoriented and cranky, Adam sat up. His phone told him it was now almost 9pm, and his stomach told him that he was absolutely starving. He was unreasonably annoyed that Ronan wasn’t here, and that he hadn’t left a note, and the fact that he was annoyed over these things was the most annoying thing of all.

As it was a small B&B, there was only so many places Ronan could go, but before Adam had decided whether or not to go and look for him, he heard the key in the lock.

He turned on the bedside lamp just as Ronan stepped inside, and the sudden glow made Ronan startle.

“Oh, hey, you’re awake,” Ronan said. His arms were full of candy bars and bags of chips and bottled water and Coca-Cola. He opened his arms and let them tumble out over the bottom of the bed. “I didn’t know what you’d want, so I got pretty much everything.”

Adam stared at the haul. “Where did you get this?”

“I raided the vending machines.” Ronan grabbed some chips flung himself down on the bed, jostling Adam and everything else that was on it.

All of Ronan’s gestures seemed to be big, Adam was realising.

“I…thanks,” Adam said, helping himself to some chips and a coke. “I’ll pay you back.”

Ronan shrugged. “It’s not big deal.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Adam reiterated.

“Okay, Parrish.”

They munched their way through over half of what Ronan had bought. It wasn’t the most nutritious meal Adam had ever had, but it eased his hunger and would tide him over until breakfast. 

After that, he could hit the road and head home and put this bizarre experience behind him.

“So,” Ronan said when Adam started clearing bags and wrappers off the bed and into the trash. “Did you enjoy the Gansey Christmas party?”

Adam smiled and rolled his eyes. “Obviously, it was the highlight of my year. How about you?”

“Not my scene,” Ronan said, but then his eyes flickered to Adam’s and away again, very quickly. “I dunno. Had its perks, I guess.”

“Yep,” Adam said. “Free food and champagne.”

Ronan smiled, but Adam couldn’t help but think that wasn’t entirely what he’d been referring to.

It had grown late, and Adam and Ronan took turns brushing their teeth in the bathroom. When Adam got out, Ronan was already under the covers on his side of the bed. sprawled on his back.

Adam hesitated briefly before quietly pulling himself together and getting into bed.

“Night, Ronan,” he said when he was safely under the covers.

“Night, Parrish,” Ronan said, turning off the light. There was a shuffling noise as Ronan rolled over, and then he said, “You don’t snore, do you?”

“No,” Adam said. “At least, I don’t think so. Do you?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Ronan said through a yawn.

* * *

 

Ronan didn’t snore, as it turned out.

Or maybe he did, and Adam was just too out of it to notice. All he knew is that one minute he was awake listening to Ronan breathe in the dark, and the next he was blinking his eyes open to a bright white glow as Ronan flung the curtains open with reckless abandon.

Adam hissed at the sudden light and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

Ronan obviously heard him because Adam felt the bed dip as he sat down.

“Good fucking morning, Parrish!” he said with obnoxious cheer. “It’s still snowing. Get dressed, let’s get breakfast.”

“Ugh,” Adam said groggily. “Fine.”

Ten minutes later, he and Ronan were down in the little dining area, piling plates high with scrambled egg and toast and taking full advantage of the free refills policy on coffee. 

Once they’d eaten their fill, they made their way back to the entrance area and stood in the doorway, looking out. Snow was still falling steadily and Adam could barely even make out his car down the end of the parking lot. The snow was almost higher than the wheels, and there was little point in trying to dig their way out if there was no sign of the snow stopping.

“Well,” Ronan said conversationally, arms crossed. “That’s that, then.”

“I don’t think you guys are going anywhere today,” Noah said, again working behind the desk. In all likelihood he was as trapped here as they were, but he was smiling at them. “Good job you’re okay with sharing that room!”

Adam sighed, and Ronan elbowed him lightly in the side.

“What’s the problem, Parrish?”

“I had some work to do, that’s all. Now I’m going to be behind when I get back. If I ever do.”

“But it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. Were you even gonna work then?”

“…Yes?”

Ronan raised his eyebrows. “Well that doesn’t sound fun at all.”

“It’s not supposed to,” Adam said with a scowl. “I’m going back to the room, there’s WiFi here at least, I can do some work emails.”

He traipsed back upstairs alone and spent the next couple of hours doing what he could from his phone. He called his office and told them the snow situation and that he’d be back as soon as possible. It turned out that hardly any of his coworkers had made it in thanks to the snow either, so they weren’t overly concerned.

Adam, on the other hand, was. It meant that work would pile up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it, and once he’d exhausted everything he could do from his phone, he stared around the little room and wondered what Ronan was doing.

He went back downstairs in the pretence of getting a hot drink, but as soon as he stepped off the bottom step, Noah grinned at him. “Your friend’s outside.”

“I–” Adam started, and he could feel himself blushing. “Okay. Thanks.”

He zipped his coat up and stepped out, shoving his hands into the pockets and deciding he really needed to invest in a pair of gloves. He hadn’t even brought a hat with him, but then again he hadn’t expected to get stranded in the middle of nowhere thanks to a snowstorm.

Adam tracked Ronan down around the back of the B&B. He was building a snowman scene much like the kind Adam used to read in library editions of Calvin & Hobbes.

“Hey,” Adam said. “Need a hand?”

Ronan looked up and grinned, the sight of which made Adam’s heart do a flip.  _Don’t do this,_  he told himself.  _This would be very inconvenient._

“Just in time, Parrish. Start building snow skyscrapers.”

Adam paused. “Alright,” he said, and started scraping together snow. “What’s the aim here?”

“I’m glad you asked. Here’s my vision: all these mini snowmen are running down the city streets, between the snow skyscrapers you’re gonna build, and I’m gonna try and make a snow Godzilla chasing them down.”

“Sounds unnecessarily complicated,” Adam said. “I like it.”

“That’s the spirit.”

They lapsed into companionable silence while they worked, and after around twenty minutes Ronan came over to check in on Adam’s progress.

“The detail on these! You’ve even outlined the fucking windows.” Ronan nodded in approval. “That’s craftsmanship, man, I’m impressed.”

Praise over the building of a Godzilla snow-scene should not have made Adam as bashful as it did.

“Nothing to it, really,” he said, unreasonably pleased. “How’s Godzilla coming along?”

“It’s uh–” Ronan looked at it over his shoulder and Adam followed his gaze. Godzilla looked a little slumped over, with not a whole lot of definition. “It’s...abstract. I’m working on it.” 

He looked at Adam as if only just seeing him properly and he frowned. “Parrish, you haven’t even got a fucking hat on.” He pulled one out of his pocket, a soft red one, and pulled it over Adam’s head until the tops of his ears were snugly covered. “I always have a spare.”

“Thanks,” Adam said, starting on his next snow building to distract Ronan from how touched he was by the gesture, which was when Ronan noticed he didn’t have any gloves on either.

“Fucking–Parrish, are you kidding me? It’s cold as balls out here, you’re gonna get frostbite.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, your hands are all red. Here.” Ronan pulled his own gloves off and pushed them towards Adam.

“Those are yours, Ronan.”

“They can be communal gloves for today. I’ve had them up to now, and now you wear them until we’re done. Come on, it won’t be much longer. I promise we can go back in if I think my fingers are gonna drop off.”

Adam relented with a put-upon smile and put the gloves on, and only once they were fastened properly did Ronan return to his sorry looking Godzilla.

It took another half an hour, by which time both Ronan and Adam were cold enough to call it a day no matter what state their snow-scene was in. Godzilla looked ever so slightly better than it had done earlier, but at least the buildings and the panicked mini-snowmen looked good.

“Eh,” Ronan grunted, taking a picture on his phone. “Close enough.”

They marched back to the entrance through the snow, shaking as much as they could off their clothing and shoes before stepping inside. Before returning to their room, they went to the breakfast dining area and got two giant mugs of hot chocolate to drink by the fire.

The mug was warm in Adam’s hands and for the first time since he’d driven up for Gansey’s party, he found that he was enjoying himself, something he never thought he’d do in only Ronan’s company. It was typical that it would take being literally forced into the same space for them to start seeing eye to eye.

Back in the room, Ronan gallantly offered Adam the first use of the shower, after which Adam changed into his sweats and a hoodie and curled up on the bed, feeling warm and clean and relaxed.

He thought he might drift off again, but he could hear Ronan in the shower singing  _More Than Words_ by Extreme, one of those songs that everyone always seemed to inexplicably know all the words too.

It was so damn catchy that Adam sleepily joined in, and a couple of minutes later when Ronan stepped out of the bathroom, they carried on singing it as a duet.

“Wow,” Ronan said when they were finished. “Adam Parrish  _sings._ Who knew?”

“Whatever,” Adam said, but he was smiling a little. “Love that song. It has great harmonies. You can’t  _not_ sing along.”

Ronan nodded sagely. “Very true.”

He finally pulled a t-shirt over his head (Adam had been just a  _little_ distracted by Ronan’s bare chest and the back tattoo that snaked its way around his neck and over his shoulders), then tossed his towel over the back of a chair.

Ronan leapt onto the bed and crawled up until he was lying on his side, facing Adam. For a moment they just looked at each other, something quietly and newly intimate about it.

“Do you always do that?” Adam asked, breaking the silence.

“Do what?”

“Like...launch yourself everywhere.”

“Uh…I dunno, Parrish,” Ronan laughed a little. “Never really thought about it.”

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t. It’s just how you are, I guess.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Adam said. “You just…have a presence? Ugh, I’m tired, sorry. Probably not making sense.”

“Huh,” Ronan said thoughtfully. “No one’s ever told me I have a presence before.”

“Well, trust me. You have one,” Adam said. “Hey, can you send me that photo you took of the Godzilla snow-scene?”

“You’d have to give me your number first.”

“Yeah, obviously. You should probably have it anyway, seeing as we’re like...friends.”

“Ohhh, are we friends now, Parrish?” Ronan laughed, lighting up his whole face. “About time, it’s only taken me, what, six fucking years?”

Adam propped himself up on his elbow to shoot Ronan an incredulous look. “You’re telling me all this time you’ve been trying to be my friend?”

“Uhh…yeah?”

Adam grabbed his pillow and threw it at Ronan. “Tell that to your face next time, Lynch, I thought you hated me!”

Ronan threw the pillow right back. “Tell it to  _my_ face, what about  _your_ face? Used some of my best material on you, barely ever saw you crack a smile.”

They scuffled over the pillow for a few seconds before Ronan finally relinquished it and Adam hugged it close to his chest. “I cannot believe we could have been friends this whole time.”

“Why’d you think I kept coming to that shitty party every year?” Ronan said. “Knew I’d win you over eventually.”

Adam tried not to think too closely about any further implications of that statement, especially when it was possible Ronan was only joking.

“And all it took was a snowstorm and an enclosed space,” Adam said dryly, relishing Ronan’s answering smirk.

“Yep. We should do this every year.”

“Ah, but I don’t think we can guarantee the weather.”

Ronan shrugged and rolled over onto his back, staring at the ceiling. “Ain’t that a shame.”

* * *

 

When Adam woke up the next morning, Ronan was already awake again, but he was still in the bed this time.  

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a covers-hog, Parrish?” he said.

“What?”

“The covers. You hog them. I was fucking freezing half the night because you’d practically made yourself a cocoon.”

Adam looked down as if to confirm this, and he had indeed managed to make a cocoon of sorts, leaving Ronan with considerably less covers to work with.

“Ah, shit, sorry. You should’ve just yanked it back.”

“I tried. Several times. You were on a mission.”

Adam sat up and looked towards the window where the curtains were still drawn. “Maybe we’ll get to sleep in our own beds tonight. You looked outside yet?”

Ronan shook his head. “You do the honours.”

Adam slipped out of bed and peered out of the window. It did look like the snow had stopped falling, but it was still deep and covering everything. Adam would have to find out more about the state of the roads from Noah.

“What’s the verdict, Parrish? Can we make a bid for freedom?”

“Uhh, I’d call it 50/50 odds at the moment.” He dropped the curtain and crawled back into the warmth of the bed. “Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if we can’t get out today,” he said, purposely not looking at Ronan.

There was a pause, and then Ronan quietly said, “No. No, it wouldn’t.”

* * *

 

“Right,” Noah said when they approached his desk. “Here’s what I’ve been told: there’s no more heavy snow forecast, so that’s good news. Unfortunately, we’re a bit in the sticks here and there’s been a lot of road closures. Snow ploughs are going around today and also our parking lot is being cleared today, and everything should be all clear and usable by this afternoon or this evening. Trouble is, it’s freezing temperatures which means ice. Probably safer for you to hang on here another night and leave in the morning instead.”

Adam couldn’t be sure, but he got the feeling Noah  _wanted_  them to stay another night.

“Alright, we’ll play it by ear,” Ronan said. “Thanks, Noah.” He draped a casual arm over Adam’s shoulder and steered him off towards the smell of breakfast.

“What do you reckon?” he said when they sat down. “It’s Christmas Eve, after all. Where were you supposed to be tomorrow?”

“I was just gonna have dinner at a friend’s house,” Adam said. “But I can cancel if it doesn’t look like I’ll make it in time, it’s not a big deal.”

“I sort of thought you’d spend it with Gansey,” Ronan said.

“Nah, not this year. What with the Christmas party and then we’ve got the New Years thing at Gansey’s next week as well, it was too much travel to fit in around work for one month if I did Christmas there as well. What about you, where are you supposed to be?”

“I was heading home for the holidays. Back to the Barns.”

Adam nodded; he’d heard about the Barns from Gansey. “Spending the holidays with your mom?”

“Yeah. And my brothers will be there too.”

Adam felt a little guilty; Ronan was probably quite keen to get home to his family. “That sounds nice. You’ll probably wanna head out this afternoon then.”

Ronan shrugged. “I dunno…I mean, yeah, I wanna get there, but I wanna get there  _alive,_  you know?”

Adam smiled. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Exactly, Parrish.”

It looked like they’d be staying another night after all.

* * *

 

There was something different about that day, knowing it was to be their last here. Something in the air around them that felt charged, as if daring them to sit closer, to reach out.

It was far too cold to go outside and build more snowmen, so they stayed in their room instead, periodically heading downstairs to get hot drinks or vending machine candy.

Adam found a deck of cards in his duffel so they played Blackjack and then Go Fish until they got tired of that, and then they ended up cross-legged on the bed facing each other.

“Let’s play I-Spy,” Ronan said. “You go first.”

“Okay.” Adam looked around for something good, but there was only so many things he could pick in the small room. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…T.”

“Is it…” Ronan’s eyes snagged on the tissues that perched on the table. “Tissues.”

“Nope.”

“...Is it my towel?”

“It  _is_  your towel. It’s your damp towel that you threw over my hoodie and left there after you showered.” Adam smiled patiently and Ronan grinned.

“My turn.” He hummed as he looked around the room, and finally he turned back to face Adam.

“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...A.”

Adam sighed expansively. “Is it me?” Ronan just smiled. “It’s me, isn’t it.”

“Course it’s you, Parrish,” Ronan said. “It’s always been you.”

And then he did what Adam had been expecting him to do and yet was somehow still surprised by.

He kissed him.

Ronan’s hands were achingly gentle on Adam’s face but he kissed like a force of nature, like he hadn’t really been breathing until now and he couldn’t get enough.

Adam had never been kissed quite like that before. It was a kiss he wanted to experience again and again.

When Ronan finally drew back, Adam chased after his lips, not ready for this moment to end. He felt Ronan smile again his mouth as they kissed again, and couldn’t help but smile himself. Soon it was more smiling than kissing, and they both pulled away although Ronan’s hands remained on Adam’s face, thumbs gently stroking his cheeks.

“I’ve been waiting for you to do that since yesterday,” Adam admitted.

“Really?” Ronan smirked. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Well at least it wasn’t six fucking years this time,” he grumbled.

Ronan laughed and kissed him again.

That night, Adam made up for stealing the covers by providing Ronan with some warmth of his own.

* * *

 

On Christmas Day morning, it took a long time for Ronan and Adam to stop clinging to each other and get out of bed.

Adam felt strangely bereft about the prospect of returning to reality. It really felt like they’d stolen moments out of time. He was terrified that the bubble was about to burst and come next year he and Ronan would be back to basic tolerance of each other at the Gansey Christmas party.

He wanted to say something, something important, make promises and commitments, but he didn’t know where to start.

Ronan had people waiting for him. They had to go.

They packed quietly, and as they each shouldered their bags to take down to their cars, Ronan shyly took Adam’s hand.

“Look, Parrish. Feel free to say no to this, but I think you should come back with me for Christmas.”

Adam stared. “What, today? With your family?”

Ronan shrugged awkwardly. “Yeah. I know that seems a bit forward, but I sort of can’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to you right now, plus you’ve still got a long way to drive and the Barns is closer. It’s…it’s Christmas, Parrish. You should come home with me.”

Relief flooded through Adam, and he squeezed Ronan’s hand. “Yeah, I’d really like that, Ronan.”

It was Ronan’s turn to look relieved. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. To tell you the truth, I sort of can’t bear the thought of leaving you right now either.”

“Well as long as we’re on the same fucking page.”  Ronan’s smile turned sharp.  _“You_  get to tell Gansey.”

* * *

 

Noah gasped when they walked down the stairs hand in hand.

“It’s a Christmas miracle!”

**Author's Note:**

> to everyone who's read/commented/kudos'd anything i've written this year, thank you so much i really appreciate it and i hope you like this one!
> 
> happy holidays! <3


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